In September of this year I traded in a 2011 M3 upon purchase of a new vehicle. At the time of trade in the M3 had an aftermarket exhaust (Remus Race and Eisenman connecting pipes) and spacers (Macht Schnell). These parts were not factored in to the value of the trade. I requested an extra day to take the car home and remove the parts so that they could be sold, and was offered by the sales manager to instead have the dealer service dept remove the parts for me minus a reasonable labor fee. I agreed and left the car. After a month of calling the dealership weekly to determine a time I'd be able to bring the stock exhaust in and have the service department remove the aftermarket parts, and being told every time I called that the service manager would call me first thing in the morning to schedule an appointment, nothing had been done. Finally after 2 months had gone by and my patience was long gone, I was told by the same sales manager that the M3 had been sold and I'd not be able to receive the parts, however they had gone online and determined what they believed was a "fair" value of the parts used, and subtracted 3 hours of labor from that value. The resulting value they were prepared to issue a check for was $300. I determined (obviously), that the value of the parts used was much greater than they had, and that 3 hours labor to replace a catback exhaust and remove wheels spacers was ridiculous. They have not moved from this number, and when I ended the conversation in favor of legal counsel, the sales manager apologized and reported he would escalate the matter to a vice president, as the dealership currently didn't have a gm.

My question is, what recourse is there here if any?

The dealership in question has proven to have absolutely zero respect for customer service or value. I have purchased 2 vehicles from them in the past 12 months and have been treated as an ignorant pest in return.

In September of this year I traded in a 2011 M3 upon purchase of a new vehicle. At the time of trade in the M3 had an aftermarket exhaust (Remus Race and Eisenman connecting pipes) and spacers (Macht Schnell). These parts were not factored in to the value of the trade. I requested an extra day to take the car home and remove the parts so that they could be sold, and was offered by the sales manager to instead have the dealer service dept remove the parts for me minus a reasonable labor fee. I agreed and left the car. After a month of calling the dealership weekly to determine a time I'd be able to bring the stock exhaust in and have the service department remove the aftermarket parts, and being told every time I called that the service manager would call me first thing in the morning to schedule an appointment, nothing had been done. Finally after 2 months had gone by and my patience was long gone, I was told by the same sales manager that the M3 had been sold and I'd not be able to receive the parts, however they had gone online and determined what they believed was a "fair" value of the parts used, and subtracted 3 hours of labor from that value. The resulting value they were prepared to issue a check for was $300. I determined (obviously), that the value of the parts used was much greater than they had, and that 3 hours labor to replace a catback exhaust and remove wheels spacers was ridiculous. They have not moved from this number, and when I ended the conversation in favor of legal counsel, the sales manager apologized and reported he would escalate the matter to a vice president, as the dealership currently didn't have a gm.

My question is, what recourse is there here if any?

The dealership in question has proven to have absolutely zero respect for customer service or value. I have purchased 2 vehicles from them in the past 12 months totaling nearly $100,000 and have been treated as an ignorant pest in return.

If you signed the title over to the dealership without having in writing that they are obligated to return the aftermarket parts to you, you are outta luck! I had a similar situation but I told them I wouldn't sign the title over until I got the parts back. The longer they waited, the longer they would pay to keep that car on their lot so it was motivation to get it done quickly.

Buying two cars then trading them in does not equate to you paying $100k. By that logic, I've spent 200k at my dealership.

I'll amend the post verbiage. Regardless, to treat any customer this way let alone a returning customer who has purchased 2 vehicles of that value in 12 months is inexcusable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 808MGuy

If you signed the title over to the dealership without having in writing that they are obligated to return the aftermarket parts to you, you are outta luck! I had a similar situation but I told them I wouldn't sign the title over until I got the parts back. The longer they waited, the longer they would pay to keep that car on their lot so it was motivation to get it done quickly.

The dealership does not refute the agreement we had. The issue is the value they determined they owe.

The dealership in question has proven to have absolutely zero respect for customer service or value. I have purchased 2 vehicles from them in the past 12 months and have been treated as an ignorant pest in return.

Is it just me or what in the world would you bring a car to trade into a dealer and expect them to take off your parts or even ask them to? Why didn't you simply put it back to stock ahead of time and go from there like every other thousands of modders do? You cant epxect a dealer to really do that for you and then give you what you think the aftermarket parts are worth

Try going to small claims court but you'd be wise to try and get something in writing from them (such as an email) acknowledging your aftermarket parts piece of the deal. You'll have an uphill battle without having things spelled out in your original paperwork.

First of all, you never should trust a car dealership on their 'word'. Probably everyone on here has been burned or been misled by one dealership or another. Unless you have something in writing by them, never trust what they say or agree to.

I doubt your used wheel spacers and exhaust - $300 are worth the amount of time and money you would have to spend on legal counsel to handle this issue. I would just walk away and take it as a lesson learned.

It totally sucks, but if it makes you feel any better... I can personally say you are not the only one who has been screwed by a dealership. I would take the $300 and forget about it. If you can afford to trade in your 2011 M3 for a newer vehicle, it sounds like you can afford to charge this one to the game.